Recognized as one of the best licenses in adventure gaming and lauded by the international press, Sherlock Holmes is back with an investigation that is sure to be the most horrifying of the series. In this great new adventure, the famous detective chases against the most threatening serial killer England has ever known - Jack the Ripper.

About This Game

Recognized as one of the best licenses in adventure gaming and lauded by the international press, Sherlock Holmes is back with an investigation that is sure to be the most horrifying of the series. In this great new adventure, the famous detective chases against the most threatening serial killer England has ever known - Jack the Ripper.

It’s 1888, London, in the Whitechapel area, and a series of grisly crimes in the heart of the East End leave a gory trail of mutilated female bodies. The police struggle to pick up the scent as the bodies pile up and paranoia sweeps the city. Sherlock Holmes immerses himself in the dark, sordid alleyways of Whitechapel in order to follow the trail of the one that the press calls Jack the Ripper. During a terrifying investigation, Holmes will attempt to lift the veil of mystery that shrouds the motives and the face behind that horrific nickname.

Presented in full 3D, Sherlock Holmes vs. Jack the Ripper offers players 2 different perspectives available at any moment in the game: a third-person view in the pure style of traditional point ’n’ click adventure games and a first-person view for close-up investigation. Players have the total freedom to choose either of the angles they wish or use them both to immerse themselves completely in this terrifying adventure.

Features Solve one of the greatest mysteries in the history of England and discover who is Jack the Ripper!

2 mythic characters of 19th century England engage in a horrifying manhunt: the illustrious Sherlock Holmes and the terrifying Jack the Ripper.

Discover the hidden side of London and the sinister streets of Whitechapel, all faithfully recreated (e.g. public work house, hospitals, brothels, etc).

Switch between playing the role of the famous detective Sherlock Holmes or his trusted friend Doctor Watson.

Interact with more than 30 authentic characters that help you complete your investigation.

Use and combine more that 100 objects and collect hundreds of clues so you can finally uncover the real identity and motives of the perverted Jack the Ripper.

2 points-of-view available at all times: gameplay in third-person or classic first-person point-of-view, a favorite for the enthusiasts of the series.

A progressive help system puts you back on track whenever you need assistance.

So BEFORE I TALK ABOUT THIS GAME even though I did want to enjoy it, I need to point out some big problems about it:- Firstly, SAVE OFTEN AND SAVE PLENTY because the game has a bizarre bug that sometimes stops you saving and it has no autosave feature, even though this is a game from 2009.- Secondly, when you have to draw on a map and it tells you to draw an Ellipse, just try to do this exactly - https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/43253912/map-%2816-9%29.jpg - it is absurdly ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ precise and I'm gonna save you a lot of hassle.- Thirdly, if you cannot load up the game for some reason, go to the PhysX folder inside the game's Steam folder and click on PhysX drivers. Then click "repair" and it should work. If not there is the Steam Community that gave me this advice.

Now, the actual review of the game. The world's most famous fictional detective versus the most infamous serial killer by name have finally come to blows in a strange blend between fantasy and reality in this game, and for what it's worth, the story is very well-composed concerning the killer's trail.As Sherlock and Watson, you must hunt down the murderous Whitechapel Killer following his deadly clues, reliving the famous incidents that granted Whitechapel a most deadly reputation for the next 130 years. The voice acting could be better, though I do enjoy Watson's VA greatly as well as the odd incidental NPC wandering around.

The anatomical gathering of clues and deductions are very fun and remain more or less the same throughout the series with a great precision. Some of the puzzles are actually really neat, however there are some that are quite frankly badly conceived due to not being great puzzles.And I'm not saying that because I'm stupid, I'm saying that because, there is a puzzle in the game that requires you to know about a specific war. That is really terrible, and any puzzle that requires outside knowledge, is a bad puzzle. That's the only example, but there are some other puzzles that are rather unclear as to what to do.

Thankfully, this series has gotten a lot better and I do recommend more people to play the much later instalments, especially The Testaments of Sherlock Holmes which is MUCH more well-played than this game frankly. So TL;DR

Pros:- Excellent well-composed accuracy concerning the various details and theories of Jack the Ripper- Anatomical deductions are pretty fun to do

Cons:- The save bug which screwed me out of 6 hours of gameplay- One or two puzzles are either outright unfair in requiring knowledge of certain things, or demand INCREDIBLY specific tasks.

Honestly, I want to give this game a Neutral rating as there's a lot to like but also a lot to dislike. If you REALLY like Sherlock Holmes, try to get it and see what happens. But for the love of God, save often.

As a few other of the Sherlock series games this one just doesn't want to start properly. It freezes after the 'New Game' button is clicked and fails after you minimize it. Useless!

Update!

I did find the solution:

#Discussions_QuoteBlock_Author

Open Find and search for 'PhysXLoader64.dll' , it should be in your C:\...\Nvidia etc. folder. Copy the file and paste it in your game folder, where the .exe is. If you have a 64-bit version of windows, try pasting it in the C:\Program Files folder, since that is the 64-bit folder and the Nvidia folder is in C:\Program Files (x86).

This game surprised me, and got me into the Frogwares Sherlock Holmes games. I originally played it on Xbox 360 as a rental when it released, the Title caught my interest. Turned out to be a game I loved so much I bought it again on Steam. The PC version is far superior with the exception of the following, but don't let it sway you away, it can be corrected. It's not a broken game any means, just needs help on newer hardware when you first install. Some users (like myself) have an issue with the game mot loading initially: for most people this can be easily corrected by opening the game's folder ("C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\common\Sherlock Holmes versus Jack the Ripper\Support\PhysX") and re-installing the two PhysX installers, and selecting the repair option if asked to by the installer for each one.

Now.. about the game. This game has good performance and plays well on a rig that pumps 30 or 60+ FPS. The game looks great too. It may not blow you away graphically, but you can see the developers cared about quality. Little things - like tiny signs pasted to a brick wall are clear and easy to read, the smoke in pubs is realistic, the lighting and shadows are nice and mood-setting: little things like this you will notice as you play. I like this game's style.

The game does have a few places where you can tell they were developing on a budget. Some of the NPC characters walking the streets are recycled, and so are their voices. To top that, the NPC townsfolk have some pretty lame voice overs. However, don't let this stray you! If you play the game like a proper Sherlock Holmes would, you'll soon find out these people are of no use to you, and just ignore them and focus on the case. The good news here, is that the NPC characters you have actual dialogue with in the game, all have pretty good voice acting. I actually like this balance, it made me laugh at the cheesy peasants in the streets as I strolled along to talk to my fancy doctor, merchant, and police colleagues and such. This gave me a real feel for the classic Sherlock Holmes arrogance, lol. Also, you get to have a laugh at prudent Wason in a brothel in the middle of the night, if you are into the books and know his character.

The story isn't half bad either. I really liked the ending. Sure, if you want to be a real nit-picker or snob you could point out all it's imperfections... but you'd just be robbing yourself of a fun game that really did try to stay true to the source material and history, while providing a unique twist to preserve continuity.

I am playing and reviewing Frogware's Sherlock Holmes series in chronological order of the games. Even though this game is the fifth installment this game seems to precede The Awakened & Nemesis in terms of chronological narrative. This is seen in this installment we are introduced to Barnes the book store owner as if for the first time while he was a known character in the last two. Otherwise this game could be played by itself since this deals with the actual events of the Jack the Ripper case instead of many fictional characters in the series. This game was very well presented that checking up on some of the minor details I am surprised how well Frogware presented a plausible answer to the Jack the Ripper mystery.

The game isn't completely full of perfect creations. Some of the puzzles are so insanely hard with no real indication of feed back or clear instruction is just guess work. In addition to this, alot of the quests felt like one giant errand run tangent from one person for the next to get some basic clues. The ending ties the fictional resaults of Sherlock Holmes and the real life outcome of the case which was indeed very intresting. If a bit disapointing. Overall this game is good but not great. It definately calls back to the horrific acts done in The Awakened. The ending is more than enough to play though the game to see how it all ties together.

I'd love to give this game a glowing review because it was great for me, but it is apparent from reading the forums that many people have issues running this game. For this reason, I'll supply my specs, though I cannot certify that this will make the game run for you:Win 7 64 bitRadeon HD 7770AMD quad core 2.94 ghz

On with the game,

It's an adventure game with a few twists. First off, you can operate the game from two different perspectives: Third-person for the old school point and click feel, and first person, which I prefer.Besides the collecting items, you will have the opportunity to examine crime scenes and fill out some diagrams that include the clues you've gathered. The game won't let you fail these. Though at first thought that might seem lazy, the game is pretty much packed with detail and it's hard to see the devs making branching paths given the amount of attention and longevity of the game. Along the same lines the game also won't let you leave certain areas without collecting all the items.There are many texts to read in this game and I would say that it is important to read them, as most do divulge important information that is pertinent to your case.

The voice acting, aside from one character who is thankfully absent for most of the game, is top notch. You can tell that, even though there was a budget as far as recording goes, the devs spared no expense for finding actors who wanted to portrey their roles well.The music is fitting and includes some great pieces from the Romantic era including one of my personal favs, Schubert's Trio in Eb.

While the puzzles can be hit or miss, they mostly hit. They make sense and you should feel like you understand what the game wants from you, though there is one puzzle that involves a map that is somewhat obtuse given to a problem with widescreen resolutions, but it is do-able without much fussing about.

Though the graphics aren't the best by today's standards they do the job. The environments are well done and I felt very immersed in the places the game put me in. Hookers, drunks and theives around every corner.

All of these things came together for a perfect storm of presentation. Nothing felt out of place and I was enthralled with this title from beginning to end.

If you're looking for an adventure title that'll suck you in you should definitely give this title a go, though you should do your research to figure out if it'll run for you.

Amusing game. The puzzles range from easy to "Oh my god how is anyone supposed to do this". It's a silly little game for anyone who's a fan of classic Holmes and the newer BBC series if you're in too deep. Trivial tasks are frequent, but necessary in order to progress in the story. That being said, the game sometimes feels childish but has adult elements. This game isn't for everybody but has charm similar to the "Nancy Drew" series.

Despite what Steam says I have completed 3/4 of SHvJtR ... then SHvJtR crashed taking me back a long way. I tried again taking an hour to replay through all the puzzles I had already solved. Knowing that the game was probably going to crash again I tried to save repeatedly but it turns out the save-function fails past a certain point. SHvJtR crashed again at the same point (at Liz Stride's murder scene). I gave up.

Some other points:- inspired by actual history: yay?- The graphics are bad and look even worse with age. - unskippable dialogue- what are you supposed to do most of the time? No clear direction about what you can do.- Voice Acting is OK- puzzles are either OK or bad- Combine the Hammer and Tongs together in your inventory because. You have this and many other stupid inventory puzzles that make almost no sense.- many puzzles are find-the-missing-object-which-is-always-in-the-background-but-not-active-until-after-a-random-conversation-later

SHvJtR is not all bad, it's just that Frogware's latest Sherlock games are much better. Save yourself the disappointment and buy a recent Sherlock Holmes game instead. I really enjoyed The Testament of Sherlock Holmes.

Probably the most exciting Sherlock Holmes adventure ever made in video games.Though the visuals aren't perfect and some puzzles may not be as clear as they should be, the whole picture of the game seems more than satisfying, considering there's a bunch of surprising story twists to discover, and the ambience here is remarkable. Moreover, the gameplay itself also has a couple of aces up its sleeve to get one's attention during the playthrough. Gear up and bring two legends together while leading your own investigation of the case that terrified London in 1888. I strongly recommend you to.

Do you like classic Victorian era Sherlock Holmes?Are you intrigued by the Whitechapel murders of 1888?Then you will love this game!

Cleverly the game developers have meshed together these two iconic characters into one very plausible story. You play as Detective Sherlock Holmes and his companion Dr John Watson either in first or third person perspective (depending on taste) as you investigate the five canonical victims of Jack the Ripper.

While this game suffers from PS2/Xbox era graphics (It looked dated even at its time of release) it does however still manage to conjure up a very detailed, authentic, and atmospheric London of the period.

Puzzles can be frustrating at times especially those that do not directly impact the murder cases themselves but overlook this fault and there is plenty to enjoy here.

I think out of all the Sherlock Holmes games this had the darkest theme and story, the puzzles range from medium to a bit hard, but this is nowhere near as hard as awakening or Arsene Lupin VS Sherlock Holmes (Lupin is in my avatar :D) if you want a nice game where you are guessing all the way through who the killer is with decent puzzles this is the game for you, the characters are a bit blend compared to the other games but its still a must play for holmes fans

Another great one by Frogwares, the guys that made Dracula:Origins. You are dealing with Jack the Ripper so it can get a bit gruesome but the puzzles are logical, and the first person mode to get around is really nice for a point-and-click. If you like adventure games I highly reccommend this one.

I joined Steam recently and this was one of the first games I purchased. I have since completed the game and I love the depicted Victorian era and British English.

Growing up reading Sherlock Holmes novels, his methods of deduction remains elusive to me. This game guides you to solving the mystery from a first-person perspective of Sherlock Holmes or Dr. Watson.

I have read reviews lamenting that the game play leans more towards running errands for NPCs. But I think it introduces the player to the NPCs. And running errands build up trust between them, hence the inclination to provide information that they otherwise would not tell the police.

In particular, the story is congruous with the alleged crimes by Jack the Ripper in Whitechapel. The ending is great and characteristic of Sherlock Holmes' eccentricity. All in all, the story unfolded at a pace that kept me tether to the screen. Good job, Frogwares!

This is a rather nice adventure game. The puzzles are of adequate difficulty and the items required are most of the time easy to find. I really like the choice between 1st person with keyboard (WASD) movement and 3rd person mouse-driven movement, although I played the entirety of the game in 1st mode. This game in general pays great respect to the source material and succesfully incorporates the story of "Jack the Ripper", employing a variety of elements from the real life events. Furthermore, with the satisfying duration for this game it feels as if you get your money's worth. The deduction board and timelines really feel like actual detective work without access to modern advances and feel very much in-place with a Holmes game. The Holmes-Watson dynamic is also well utilized in this game to make for this elements of Holmes's stories that attracts such fandom.

The game has some minor problems, but nothing that spoils your fun. Some of the NPC voice acting is not good, but this is rare and it is limited to random "area populating" NPCs. Some puzzles would really be easier with an explanation, because you are hindered from advancing not due to actual puzzle difficulty but due to not understanding the rules or limitations in interacting with the computer game. There is also a puzzle that requires some encyclopaedic knowledge that cannot be found in-game (US civil war battles).

Personally, without spoiling it for you, I found the ending a smart way to compromise between a videogame structure and the actual unfolding of the events. If you engage in "ripperology" as a hobby, you might strongly disagree with it, but hey, it is just a game.

Overall, if you are a Holmes or Jack the Ripper stories fan, I would recommend this game. Personally, I waited until this game was bundled, but if you are a fan of other Frogware games, this is a solid purchase.

This is one of the best adventure games I have played. Puzzles are rewarding and unlike most adventure games, environmental puzzles are sparse and most puzzles focus on examining evidence and making deductions. The dailogue, while sometimes badly acted, is witty and clever. Overall, this is a really great game and should be played by all adventure game fans.

Really compelling story, and creative puzzle solving make this game a treat, in spite of the rough edges and clunky controls. Definitely wanting to check out the other Sherlock Holmes games after this.